Imperial Germany 1871-1918

Edited by James Retallack

The ideal introduction to German history between the founding of the Reich in 1871 and its collapse at the end of the First World War

Thematic contributions from an international team of experts covers all aspects of Germany in this period, including political and economic developments, society, religion, culture and the arts, and gender

Combines a clear narrative of the main events with a survey of the main contending interpretations of these events

Imperial Germany 1871-1918

Edited by James Retallack

Description

The German Empire was founded in January 1871 not only on the basis of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's "blood and iron" policy but also with the support of liberal nationalists. Under Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm II, Germany became the dynamo of Europe. Its economic and military power were pre-eminent; its science and technology, education, and municipal administration were the envy of the world; and its avant-garde artists reflected the ferment in European culture. But Germany also played a decisive role in tipping Europe's fragile balance of power over the brink and into the cataclysm of the First World War, eventually leading to the empire's collapse in military defeat and revolution in November 1918.

With contributions from an international team of twelve experts in the field, this volume offers an ideal introduction to this crucial era, taking care to situate Imperial Germany in the larger sweep of modern German history, without suggesting that Nazism or the Holocaust were inevitable endpoints to the developments charted here.

Imperial Germany 1871-1918

Edited by James Retallack

Author Information

James Retallack is Professor of History and German Studies at the University of Toronto. He has held visiting professorships at the University of Göttingen and the Free University, Berlin, and has published widely on German history from the late eighteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries.

Contributors:

James Retallack, University of TorontoKatharine Anne Lerman, London Metropolitan UniversityMark Hewitson, University College LondonBrett Fairbairn, University of SaskatchewanChristopher Clark, University of CambridgeCelia Applegate, University of RochesterAngelika Schaser, University of HamburgEdward Ross Dickinson, University of California, DavisThomas Kühne, Clark University Roger Chickering, Georgetown University Sebastian Conrad, European University Institute, FlorenceJeffrey Verhey, Humboldt University, Berlin